HOW A CPD DISCIPLINE CASE HAS DRAGGED ON FOR ALMOST 14 YEARS
THE INCIDENT
May 6, 2003: It was 1: 30 in the morning when a 22- year- old woman left a gas station at Elston and North avenues after a fill- up and was pulled over by a Chicago cop, Officer Clay T. Walker, who told her that her license plates were suspended. After she admitted having a couple of beers earlier that night, according to police reports, a female cop showed up to search the woman, who was then handcuffed and taken by Walker to the Shakespeare District police station.
Her SUV was impounded, and her two passengers had to get a cab.
Inside, the woman was handcuffed to a bench in an interview room. She told investigators Walker called her a “stupid- ass little girl” — which he denies — and the two began shouting at each other. She said Walker wouldn’t let her use the bathroom. A female rookie cop, Androniki Velisaris, showed up 20 minutes later to escort the woman to the restroom. Velisaris also got permission from the watch commander to give her a can of Mountain Dew.
When Walker returned, he was angry that the woman had the pop, according to police reports. “You’re my f------ prisoner, no one is allowed to do anything for you,” Walker told her, according to the reports. The woman said Walker grabbed the pop and spilled it on her shirt and pants. Walker said he reached for the pop, but she squeezed the can, spilling it on herself. Walker later said he didn’t want her to have Mountain Dew because it has too much caffeine.
Velisaris told investigators she heard screaming and returned to the interview room, questioning Walker about the spilled pop. “He said, ‘ This is my prisoner.’ I said, ‘ I did not ask you that. I asked you if you spilled the pop over her.’ Officer Walker did not respond to my question.”
The woman told Velisaris she had been hit in the face by Walker and that he had kicked a garbage can at her while she was handcuffed to the bench. Walker told investigators the woman grabbed his cellphone, dropped it and kicked him when he tried to get it. She said that’s when he punched her.
The woman was given a Breathalyzer test three times but “failed to provide enough air for the machine to register,” police reports say. Walker ticketed her for DUI and four other citations — for driving an uninsured car with expired plates, failure to wear a seat belt and making an illegal turn or stop. All were dismissed within four months.
Walker also wanted to charge the woman with assaulting a cop, but his supervisor wouldn’t approve that after talking with her.
Another supervisor summoned the Office of Professional Standards, the now- defunct agency that investigated excessive- force complaints. OPS took photos of the woman, showing a “small, circular bruise to her left cheek,” as well as Walker’s right thigh, where he says he was kicked.
THE AFTERMATH
Oct. 20, 2003: OPS found that Walker hit the woman and spilled pop on her. The case was turned over to the Police Department.
Nov. 13, 2003: The woman sued the city of Chicago.
April 26, 2004: While at roll call in the Grand Central police station on West Grand, Walker unzipped his pants and exposed his penis after telling other officers, according to police reports: “I’m in a good mood today because I just had sex before I came to work.”
That resulted in another complaint against Walker and also against Sgt. Charles Halpern because he “failed to file a complaint in a timely fashion” against the officer. Walker said he exposed himself on a dare from Halpern, who Walker said asked the other cops to comment on the size of his penis. Halpern denied that but got a one- day suspension. Walker got a 20- day suspension — but it took nine years until the case was closed, in March 2013.
Sept. 1, 2004: City Hall settled the lawsuit over the punch, paying the woman $ 50,000 without admitting Walker hit her.
Oct. 29, 2004: Walker went on disability, saying he hurt his back years earlier while making two arrests but had never reported the injuries. He said the injuries were duty- related, entitling him to disability payments equal to his 75 percent pay, but he got 50 percent of his salary because officials said there was no proof he was hurt on duty. Walker sued but lost and also lost on appeal.
June 24, 2005: CPD’s com- mand channel review — a panel of supervisors — concluded Walker had punched the handcuffed woman.
March 10, 2006: While on disability, Walker got his 13th disciplinary complaint — over an argument at the police station in Maywood, where he had accompanied a relative bringing her daughter to the girl’s father. The complaint, filed by a Maywood police sergeant, took eight years to resolve, with Walker getting a 25- day suspension.
April 20, 2006: OPS administrator Tisa Morris wrote the woman who got punched, saying, “We have . . . classified that complaint register as sustained. The superintendent of police has imposed disciplinary action against the accused member( s).”
The letter didn’t inform the woman Walker was on disability leave and couldn’t be disciplined until returning to work.
Oct. 14, 2009: Walker returned to duty after collecting $ 162,447 in disability pay.
March 18, 2011: Walker was arrested following a drunken dispute with a neighbor at his Northwest Side home. He had tried to remove the neighbor’s downspout, police reports say.
Walker was handcuffed and locked up at the Jefferson Park police station, where he threatened to hang himself. After officers took most of his clothes, Walker threw his underwear out of the cell, according to reports that say he was given a paper suit that he also threatened to use to hang himself. One officer said
of Walker: “Very aggressive, very hostile. Yelling, screaming, violent. He was slamming his face and head into the glass and walls of the cell. Lots of profanity.”
Walker eventually got a 30- day suspension for being intoxicated off- duty.
March 18, 2013: Walker and his wife sued the city of Chicago, saying several officers beat him while he was locked up. He dropped the suit in April 2014 as the department was preparing to close four of his disciplinary cases, including the episodes involving exposing himself and the drunken argument with his neighbor.
July 2, 2015: The Independent Police Review Authority — which had replaced OPS eight years earlier as part of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s effort to improve oversight of police officers — sent a letter to Walker’s supervisors, saying the agency was “recently notified” Walker had returned to duty. IPRA asked Walker’s supervisors to have him sign “Request for Review of Discipline” forms regarding the 2003 punch.
July 16, 2015: Walker filed a grievance over the suspension he was issued for hitting the woman. The case is still pending.
“When I got back from disability, they ignored it for five years,” he says. “Then, they came at me. At what point is that not fair to me?
“They have to do this in a timely manner. You can’t wait years and years and say, all of a sudden, ‘ We want to punish you for something that happened 12 years ago.’ Of course, I’m going to grieve.”
Jan. 26, 2016: Walker failed a random drug test, testing positive for the narcotic painkiller oxycodone without a prescription. The Police Department filed another complaint — Walker’s 26th.
March 14, 2016: Walker went back on disability. Dec. 16, 2016: The Sun- Times asked to review the outstanding complaint filed against Walker in the 2003 case. The police refused, saying its case remained open. The Sun- Times later obtained case files from IPRA, which had closed the case years ago.
Jan. 11, 2017: Supt. Eddie Johnson moved to fire Walker, saying he’d ignored orders to provide investigators with a statement regarding his failed drug test.
“It’s probably not going to go anywhere, like everything else,” Walker says. “If they want to try to terminate me, it’s going to cost them a lot of money. And I’m going to win anyway.”
“IT’S PROBABLY NOT GOING TO GO ANYWHERE, LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE. IF THEY WANT TO TRY TO TERMINATE ME, IT’S GOING TO COST THEM A LOT OF MONEY. AND I’M GOING TO WIN ANYWAY.” CPD OFFICER CLAY T. WALKER on Police Supt. Eddie Johnson’s move to fire him